Longtime Pittsburgh Pirates rightfielder Roberto Clemente is much more than one of the premier major leaguers of his generation. While his statistics and on-field accomplishments earned him election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, equally awe-inspiring are his sense of professionalism and pride in his athleticism, his self-respecting view of his ethnicity, and his humanism. Clemente, who first came to the Pirates in 1955, died at age 38, on New Year's Eve 1972, while attempting to airlift relief supplies from his native Puerto Rico to Nicaraguan earthquake victims. He insisted on making the effort despite bad weather and admonitions that the ancient DC-7 in which he was flying was perilously overloaded. This act of self-sacrifice, which came scant months after Clemente smacked major-league hit number 3,000, attests to his caliber as a human being and transformed him into an instant legend.

Roberto Clemente

Roberto Walker Clemente was born...